Review of Vampire's Kiss - Great Halloween Movie

Vampire's Kiss is about Peter Loew, who is a bit of a big wig at a publishing house by day, womanizer extraordinaire by night. He's seeing a shrink to try to figure out why he is the way he is. Things get interesting when Peter picks up a chick at a club who just happens to bite him on the neck during the throws of passion.

Nicolas Cage (City of Angels, Raising Arizona) is Peter Loew, one amazingly messed up guy. He thinks he's a vampire. When his teeth just refuse to grow the fangs, he goes and buys a pair of plastic ones. That was one of the funniest scenes ever in movie history! Cage has always been an awesome actor. He's not necessarily good looking, but he has such a presence, and underlying sexuality. He really gets into his roles and plays them to the hilt. This was his fourth movie so he was still experimenting a bit back in 1987 (it was released 2 years later) and in this one he tries on a bit of a continental voice that just tends to irk. That's the only annoying quality though. Top notch as usual.

Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, Fear of Flying) is Rachel, the chick that bit Peter. After the bite we see her quite a bit controlling his life... I won't go any farther with that for fear of giving too much away. Beals is ok. Sorta pretty, but she's not the sex goddess vampyric type in my eyes. She did not do bad though, and there was a chemistry between her and Cage that makes up for the rest.

Maria Conchita Alonso (Moscow on the Hudson, Colors) is the poor put-upon Alva, secretary to Peter. The abuse this gal takes from her boss is unreal... I'da shot him and been done with it! Alonso is a very good actress. Believable in the extreme. She comes across with just the right mixture of fear & loathing, and throws in a dash of hopefulness that things will change.

Elizabeth Ashley (Shoot the Moon, Dragnet) is Peter's shrink, Dr. Glaser. I particularly liked the fantasy sequence where she got to laugh at him... how many times did I want to bust out laughing at a client? Sue me, I'm human. Ashley does a fine job mixing just the right amount of concern for her client with a bit of curiosity and sterness at times. She was a good choice to put as anchor to Cage's madness.

Robert Bierman directed this dark romp, his fourth movie as director. He had no clue what he was after and had a very low budget....and yet it worked. There were times he just sat back and let Cage go with it, probably the best move he could have made. In that, I have to say he did amazingly well with this movie. There were many screw-ups that ended up being fortunate..such as lighting errors that actually added to the feel. Do watch the commentary with him and Cage.. it's as good as the movie!

The DVD is 103 minutes in length. There are not a lot of bells and whistles on this, but there is the commentary by Bierman and Cage, made 11 years after the release of the movie. Well worth watching!

Rated R for violence, gore, language and sorta-sex. What the hell is sorta-sex? Well.. it's them in bed sorta implying sex cuz they're in their undies, but that's as far as that goes beside gyrations and panting. I'd say 16 and up.

Vampire's Kiss is in no way Cage's best movie, but I recommend it anyway to horror buffs, Cage fans, dark comedy collectors, and those into abnormal psychology. I fit all those categories. Ignore Cage's accent and just sit back, enjoy.